DWNTWN - Racing Time (Northbound Records)

Artist Info: Being vulnerable is risky. Lyricists can cloak their feelings in obtuse turns of phrases and abstract poetics, just as composers’ dense sonic layers can conceal shoddy tunesmithing. It takes strength, wisdom, and maturity to put your art and heart out in the forefront. On DWNTWN’ s latest, Racing Time (Jullian Records), out July 21st, the LA-based dream pop band lay bare both their songs and their souls.

Racing Time is a milestone entry in Jamie and Robert’ s creative partnership. The two met while in high school, and, six years ago, began experimenting as a bedroom duo, concocting lush pop with one guitar and a midi keyboard. Over the years, Jamie and Robert have added other musicians to the mix and scaled back the ambient layers to reveal warmly organic instrumentation. “We’ve matured,” Jamie allows. “We are ready to pull away all the excesses so we can be vulnerable, and say exactly what needs to be said.”

Racing Time opens with “Bloodshot Eyes”’s sweet spectral vocals and acoustic guitar strumming. Soon, lush textures emerge and envelop you while the beat surges forward with pent-up emotionality. There is majestic sadness to tracks like “Bloodshot Eyes,” along with album tracks like “Love Someone” and “Little Night Song.”

On the heels of the release of DWNTWN’ s masterful debut, Jamie is reflective. A moment that stands out to her in making the album is sharing her music with her stepmother. Jamie says: “It felt really good to reconnect. She told me: ‘I want you to know your dad would have been so proud of you.’”